Amulet Case with Qur’anic inscription

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Amulet Case with Qur’anic inscription

India, Telangana, Hyderabad, early 19th century
Jewelry and Adornments; amulets
Gilded silver inlaid with turquoise and red foil-backed glass set in gold (obverse); enameled gilded silver (reverse)
2 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3/4 in. (6.99 x 7.3 x 1.91 cm)
From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase (M.76.2.25)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

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The amulet case is an elongated octagonal box of enameled and gilded silver. A small scroll of paper, likely inscribed, is inside the bottom compartment. The obverse, or top compartment, is a single turquoise slab set into a bezel. A verse from the Qur’an (40:44) is inscribed with red foil-backed glass set in gold channel settings: "I entrust my cause to Allah. Verily, Allah sees (all His) servants." (Translation by Z.A. Desai) Bejeweled pendants worn by royalty and the nobility not only serve as bodily ornaments and to display personal wealth, but they can also be visual indicators of political status or a particular cultural or ethnic identity. Certain pendants or amulets are believed to provide the wearer with prophylactic protection from malevolent forces. Usually made of precious or apotropaic materials, they are empowered with inscribed sacred verses and/or astrological, numerical, or mystical symbols written on paper. In the Indo-Islamic tradition, protective amulets are often inscribed with the ninety-nine names of God (Allah), Qur’anic verses, and hadith (the sayings of Muhammad). The reverse, or bottom compartment, is gilded silver with an elaborate floral design in translucent dark blue and green enamel of a poppy-like tripartite flowering plant rising from a stylized vase with a splayed foliate foot. The strong verticality of the design and its prominent center motif parallels the flowering tree used to adorn a type of protective jade amulet known as a haldili.
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Bibliography

  • Markel, Stephen. Mughal and Early Modern Metalware from South Asia at LACMA: An Online Scholarly Catalogue. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2020. https://archive.org/details/mughal-metalware (accessed September 7, 2021).
  • Markel, Stephen. Mughal and Early Modern Metalware from South Asia at LACMA: An Online Scholarly Catalogue. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2020. https://archive.org/details/mughal-metalware (accessed September 7, 2021).
  • Rosenfield, John.  The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection.  Boston:  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
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